2017

03 Feb - 19 Mar Group Exhibition

The work represents the return of a group of extremely rare bearded vultures to the Alps, where they have not been seen for centuries. SUPERFLEX has chosen one of the birds, Pablo, who has settled in the Les Diablerets Glacier near Gstaad, as an inspiration to embody the physical evolution of tragedy. Pablo’s return marks a moment of celebration, but also of concern, as the glacier itself is endangered, with global warming causing it to recede at record rates.

Pablo is a descendant of the same vulture that dropped a turtle on the head of the Greek poet Aeschylus so giving birth to the idea of tragedy. Crafted by local artisans, the resulting sculpture takes the form of a totem where history, mythology, ornithology and speculation have been skewered on a timeline of tragedy extending from Greece to Les Diablerets, from Aeschylus to Pablo himself.

Avalanches, their power, dynamics and the unexpected are the curatorial point of departure for the next winter show by Neville Wakefield and Olympia Scarry. It will launch over the weekend of 3-5 February 2017 and will feature an international program of music, performance and sound installations. Offsetting the ephemeral and transitive nature of these performances will be a number of monumental sculptural and site-specific interventions created by renowned artists from around the globe. ELEVATION 1049 is supported by the LUMA& Foundation, the founding patrons and a number of further private donors.